An avid member of the Tartan Army from the Highlands has bought a “banger” to drive to Germany to follow Scotland at Euro 2024.
33-year-old Scott Miller, from Brora, has been following the Scotland team across the world since he went to Germany for a Euro 2016 qualifier in Dortmund in September 2014.
Despite a 2-1 defeat to the then world champions, a memorable goal from former Scotland midfielder Ikechi Anya made Mr Miller “fall in love” with following the national team abroad.
After Scotland qualified for next year’s European Championships – which included a famous 2-0 March win against Spain at Hampden – he was determined that he would travel to Scotland’s first tournament abroad since the 1998 World Cup in France.
However, rather than booking flights like most of the Tartan Army, Mr Miller set himself a challenge, to buy an old car – a “banger” – with a cost of less than £500.
He bought a 25-year-old Volvo S40 from a woman in Inverness online and despite it needing some things done for it to pass its MOT, as well as having 125,000 miles on the clock, this was no problem for the trained mechanic.
“I want to keep the whole thing as cheap as possible and do it on a budget. It just makes it a bit more fun,” he said.
He will be travelling to Deutschland with his friend and co-driver Terry Stirling, with this being the 54-year-old’s first trip outside of Scotland.
The crane operator, who is in the process of getting passport, is described as being “nervous and very apprehensive” about the adventure, and despite having no tickets to the games, will enjoy them at a fan zone.
Mr Miller plans to give the car a “very Scottish makeover” as they gear up to drive to Germany next summer.
He is currently “putting the feelers out” and hopes to get vinyl wrapping on the motor, paintwork done and companies to sponsor it.
“I’ll put your name on the car if you can do it at a cut price for me,” the rigger who works in Nigg said.
Despite going to Euro 2020 – which was held a year later in 2021 due to Covid-19 – he said it “wasn’t really the same” due to this, but also the fact that it was hosted by 11 countries across Europe for the tournament’s 60th anniversary.
‘Nightmare’ getting tickets
Mr Miller was at Scotland’s opening match of the tournament – a 2-0 defeat to the Czech Republic in Glasgow – as well as the spirited 0-0 draw against England at Wembley.
“For the England one, I was one point short of getting a ticket, so I phoned up and said I had injured my leg and I got an accessible ticket.
“So I managed to blag my way in and I got a wheelchair, and I got pushed into the game because there was heaps of tickets spare,” he told The P&J.
This will not be happening this time though, as he has already secured tickets for all of Scotland’s group stage matches, despite having a “nightmare” getting them due to issues with access codes and being a nightshift worker.
The Sutherland man will be in the stands for the tournament‘s opening match against Germany in Munich on June 14.
“For some of us this is a dream come true, getting to witness Scotland opening a Euro Championships,” he said.
The pair will be based between Cologne and Dusseldorf for the tournament and Mr Miller plans to take the train to the opening game, before driving to Cologne to see Scotland’s match against Switzerland on June 19.
They are also planning on driving to Stuttgart for the Tartan Army’s final group match against Hungary on June 23.
Quarter or semi-final prediction for Scotland
However, they will hope that the Scotland’s journey does not end there, and Mr Miller is quite “optimistic”, booking accommodation for a month.
It will not just be the Highland duo that are in the Volvo S40 heading to the continent in the summer though, as the two other seats in the car will be put up for sale, including cabin tickets on the near 16-hour ferry between Newcastle and Amsterdam.
When asked how he thinks Steve Clarke’s men will do at the Euros, Mr Miller said that “something in my heart” thinks the team will advance past the group stage.
He added: “It’s going to be tough, but I think we can go to the quarters or semis. Wales did it and Wales did it with a far poorer team than us.”
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